Tour de France on TV

Author: Alex

  • Harrogate to Leeds – is stage one of the Tour de France really flat?

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    Stage two is probably the more interesting day in and of itself, but stage one has something going for it other than Le Grand Kerfuffle of the race simply getting underway – it’s quite a decent primer for the points competition. It’s down as being a flat stage, so you expect them all to ride…

  • Yellow jersey contenders in 2014

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    Who’s going to win this year’s Tour de France? Probably one of these guys and most likely one of the first two. But plenty can happen over the course of a Grand Tour. Just think what you were doing three weeks ago. Okay, it was probably much the same, but you almost certainly aren’t operating…

  • Green jersey contenders in 2014

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    Last year, I named just three contenders for the green jersey – awarded to the winner of the points competition. Peter Sagan, Mark Cavendish and André Greipel promptly finished first, second and third respectively. This year there’s a bit more uncertainty and I’m going to give you six names. The first three are out-and-out sprinters.…

  • Team Sky are not British

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    They are in one sense, in that they have their roots in British Cycling and have their main base at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester. But in a more meaningful sense – from my perspective – they’re not, because they have fewer and fewer British cyclists. The Britishness increasingly seems like a branding exercise.…

  • Laura Trott and Peter Kennaugh are likeable British road race champions

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    A quick diversion to report on the British national road race championships and then I’ll hit you (not literally) with a bunch of Tour de France preview stuff over the rest of the week. I already told you that Bradley Wiggins won the men’s time trial. Emma Pooley won the women’s. Normally people take a…

  • 2014 Tour de France stage two profile

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    Just to let you know that my stage two preview now includes links to the profile. I mention this largely because it’s funny to see the Franglais. Highlights include: Cote de Blubberhouses Cote de Holme Moss Cote de Jenkin Road I love a stage profile at the best of times, but this is one of…

  • Wiggins, Froome and Grand Tour fitness

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    You can ride hard one day and then feel good enough to ride hard again the next day or you can ride hard one day and then need to spend the next day on the sofa drinking tea, eating sandwiches and moaning like one of the undead each time you get up. That’s Bradley Wiggins’…

  • The Schlecks are riding the Tour de France

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    The Trek Factory Racing team have announced that both The Schlecks (Frank) and The Schlecks (Andy) will be riding the Tour this year. As far as I can tell, the reasoning seems to be ‘because we haven’t really got anybody else’. Frank’s selection is fair enough. He has shown mediocre form all season long and…

  • Apparently Rui Costa always wins the Tour de Suisse

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    The Tour de Suisse is not the easiest race to follow. With two time trials before any of the proper mountain stages, you can’t be totally sure who’s really in contention until it’s basically over. After winning the stage seven time trial, Tony Martin led Tom Dumoulin by 28 seconds and Rui Costa by over…

  • Alberto Contador’s team for the Tour de France

    —

    by

    Alex
    in

    Yesterday, I wrote that Alberto Contador was devoid of team-mates for most of the final stage of the Dauphiné and so Pierre wrote to ask: “Were they all just knackered from the previous day’s efforts or are they just going to be shit at the Tour de France?” The short answer is that Contador was…